


Dawn of the First Day

by Get Dunked On (LittleKnownArtist)



Series: Swapfell side stories [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Gen, Hangover, Swapfell, no permadeath in my swapfell, papyrus isn't actually an alcoholic here, surprisingly, the skelebros have a good sibling relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 05:19:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15066017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleKnownArtist/pseuds/Get%20Dunked%20On
Summary: Tears sprung to Papyrus's eyes as dust began to cloud his vision. How did this happen? How could he have let this happen? He heard his brother calling his name one last time in desperation.Thank God for resets...right..? A morning for the Swapfell Skelebros.





	Dawn of the First Day

**Author's Note:**

> 95% of this was written between 1am and 3am.

Papyrus crunched through the snow on his way back from brunch, yawning into his hand. The blanket and pillow he kept under his station were calling to him. He decided to take another detour to check on the kid's progress.

_Kid? What kid?_

"Halt! You're going to stop right there!" Papyrus heard his brother's voice near the exit of the Snowdin biosphere. Papyrus squinted, spotting the small black and red silhouette of Sans through the fog. Ahead of him was another figure, surprisingly smaller than Sans. Had to have been a child then, probably the 'kid' his mind had supplied earlier. He got closer the the scene, creeping up on the pair to get a better...

What the hell kind of monster was that supposed to be? It had brown fur, no, brown hair that stopped above it's shoulders and pink hands--probably from the cold--poking out from under a vermilion and eggplant sweater. Striped, so definitely a kid. Was this a hybrid subspecies of monster Papyrus hadn't seen before? If it was just a child, it would be reasonable for them to be a monster Papyrus didn't know, parents tended to keep vulnerable children on tight leashes for their safety. Too many children disappeared for God knows what reason to be out and about before they had decent defensive magic. 

They were holding a...plastic play knife? It looked like a real knife if it weren't for the neon pink handle. 

Oh shit.

If Sans thought it was a real knife...he was already drawing the child into an encounter. What was Sans doing? He only engaged those he felt were worthy opponents, why was he going to fight a kid? Maybe he was just training them? Papyrus hoped he wouldn't be too rough with the child, the brothers had paid enough in property damages over the years, he certainly didn't want the extra hours that would come with medical expenses for the kid's family.

"I see that you are eager, human."

 _Human?_ What the fuck did he mean _human_? There was no way that pipsqueak child was a...could it really be? Papyrus's phalanges dug into the bark, a raw spike of fear ran down his spine. He didn't have a good idea of what a human looked like, but from the descriptions, he supposed...if they were as dangerous as he had been told...

"Do not think that you will have a chance of defeating me, Sans the great and terrible, commander of the Snowdin unit! It would be nice to have a worthwhile battle," Sans's smirk grew impossibly wider showcasing every sharp tooth in his skull, "but I doubt--"

The child didn't let Sans finish as they darted forward, and before Papyrus knew what was happening the kid was in front of Sans. Everything was still for a breath, then Sans was stumbling backwards. Papyrus bit the unlit cigarette in half as he saw the bright red dribbling onto the snow beneath Sans. He was frozen in place as Sans took another step back, but faltered, falling backwards onto his tailbone, a hand held to his chestplate. Darker red was blooming across the snow where he sat, and staining his glove and shorts.

"What the actual fuck," Papyrus wasn't sure of he muttered. It was a plastic knife. A Barbie kitchen playset knife. Sans wore a steel chestplate. It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense. None of this made sense! What the fuck was happening?!

"Y-you," Sans huffed.

"You just caught me off guard...you're just a common criminal...fighting dirty...you're a fool. You...can do..." Sans coughed, a mix of red blood and plum magic dribbling from between his clenched teeth. "A helluva lot better than that. Lazy people never train, if you train...you could've held your own in a fair fight...but..." tears sprung to Papyrus's eyes as dust began to cloud his vision. How did this happen? How could he have let this happen? He heard his brother calling his name one last time in desperation,

"Papyrus..."

*** 

"Papyrus!" Wait, that sounded more like his usual commanding tone.

"Papyrus get up!"

Papyrus's eye sockets sprung open to the familiar surroundings not of the snow and forest, but of his bedroom wall, with peeling wallpaper and food stains. He groaned, turning his face into his mattress. What an awful dream. Oof. What an awful headache. No more back-alley tequila within an hour of bedtime for him. The idea of losing his one and only little brother, his only remaining family, was probably the worst thing he could imagine. Why did it have to come to him in a dream. Fear and despair still made him tense, even after he realized it was just a nightmare, it had felt so real...

"Papyrus, come on! I'm being nice for once!" The sentence qas punctuated with three loud knocks, making his headache more noticeable. Papyrus gave a grunt in reply, loud enough that Sans should hear it from where he was, outside Papyrus's locked door. He heard Sans growl, then take a deep breath.

"Come on, brother!" He said, in a rather chipper tone, "you know what they say, ' _the early bird catches the worm!_ '" Papyrus could practically hear Sans waving his index finger with this self-righteous grin on his face.

Papyrus rolled over without opening his eyes to project his voice towards the door.

"And the late owl catches the mouse; I fail to see your point." He then pulled what he could of his tangled blanket over his head.

"Argh!...My. Point. Is..." Sans's voice sounded like it was getting further from the door. Papyrus then heard running footfalls speeding towards his door. Papyrus's eyes popped open and he threw the blankets back before--

" **CA-CAW MONSTERTRUCKER!!!** " 

Sans shouted as he came crashing into the room, kicking the door off the hinges (again) and surfing the fiberboard five feet into the room. He was wearing sunglasses, which he adjusted as he came to a hault.

"It's time to get up!" Papyrus blinked, then flopped back onto his musty floor mattress.

"Oh no you don't!" Sans removed his sunglasses, hooking them onto the front of his crop top and marching forward. He grabbed his older brother by the back of his shirt and hauled him up to his knees, allowing Papyrus at least the dignity of getting all the way to his feet before yanking on his wrist and dragging him down to the bathroom. He'd already put toothpaste on Papyrus's toothbrush, handing it to him before stepping out of the bathroom. Sans really was a cool guy, even if he was a prick or a brat at times.

Papyrus glanced out the window by the washing machine, noting that the lamps were just barely starting to brighten up, meaning it was nowhere near 8am, when he was generally supposed to roll out of bed.

"Sans. Why'd you get me up so early?" Papyrus almost whined. Sans stood in the doorway coffee mug in hand. 

"I had to make sure you were up and ready for the day before I left for work today. You know, brother, taking care of you is a job in of itself."

"Yo wohk innit unhil nihn o cwock," Papyrus garbled around his toothbrush.

"Today's my first day in my new position, I wanted to get there extra early! Plus--" Sans took a glug of his coffee, "it's all the way in the capital, I have to take an early ferry."

Papyrus rinsed his mouth out before processing his brother's words. Damn, his skull hurt. _That fucking tequila._ He raised a brow ridge.

"New position? Whatcha get demoted for?"

"Demoted! Papyrus don't you insinuate something so awful!"

Papyrus was now confused.

"You're captain now?" He knew Alphys had done a few shitty things, but he didn't think she'd get fired over them so quickly.

"No." Sans rolled his eyelights. He tipped his coffee and chugged the last of it. "Weren't you listening to a word I said when we walked home last night?" Haha, nope. He remembered calling Sans to pick his too-drunk-to-teleport ass up, wrapping Sans up in the most drunkenly awkward of all awkward sibling hugs that by the grace of some higher power none of the midnight partygoers seemed to notice and then, thankfully, blanking on the rest. None of the conversations stuck in his mind. Besides Doggo hitting on him something fierce. But that was a biweekly occurrence.

"I made you eggs and toast on the counter. I'm getting dressed." Then, he was gone. Papyrus was still confused about what in the world Sans meant with his new position, but he didn't have the desire to chase after him with blackened toast and eggs were ready to be eaten. He hopped onto the counter and waited, pouring a black cup of coffee to go with everything else black for breakfast. By now, he'd developed a taste for "very very well done" meals. 

He'd finished his first piece of toast when Sans came down in his battle body, including his painted steel...chestplate...Papyrus swore he saw a crack in the metal diagonally across his chest, but he blinked, and the metal was solid again. That dream...seeing Sans in his armor made a spike of anxiety run through his soul. A human hadn't fallen in a good fourteen years, what were the chances that another would fall in the near future? 

Remembering his earlier question, Papyrus ignored his brother's mutterings about sitting at the table like a civilized monster.

"What new position did you mean all the way in the capital?"

Sans quirked a browbone at his brother, at first not understanding before blinking with an "oh."

"With the influx of assassination attempts on the queen, especially with that last bombing at the capital, new measures are being taken to ensure the queen's safety. Of course, I finally received the recognition I deserved after singlehandedly dispatching the rebels' top officials," he pointed his thumb to his chest, a smug grin on his face, "so I was appointed as the queen's personal guard."

Papyrus took a second to process, not even cringing as he watched his little brother dump six spoonfuls of sugar into his travel mug.

"The fuck you are," tumbled out of his mouth.

"Language," Sans reprimanded casually.

"You're not gonna be the queen's fucking guard dog!" Papyrus hopped of the counter. Sans glared.

"I said to watch your Goddamn mouth." He took a swig of his coffee-sugar sludge.

"The pay's a bit better too, even if I'm working most weekends. It works for me since I was usually bored on the weekends anyways."

"You can't work directly with the queen, you'll be eviscerated in no time."

Sans scoffed.

"You need flesh for that," he stated matter-of-factly. "Besides, I was hired because I can hold my own against criminals, so you need to knock off that protective older brother bullcrap." He pushed Papyrus away with a hand on his chest, Papyrus having encroached on his personal space. Papyrus stood back, trying to shove his hands in his pockets only to realize he was still in boxers and a tank top. Instead he awkwardly dropped his hands back to his sides.

"Sans," he started, only for Sans to leave the kitchen. Sans grabbed his boots, shoving his feet into them.

"I won't hear it. Working so closely with the queen, well...it gets me even more recognition than being a commander in the Royal Guard! It's great! You'll see!" He stood, delighting in the sound his heels made on the tile entryway.

"Now that you've eaten and brushed your teeth, you just need to get dressed and we can go to work."

Papyrus ran an hand down his face. "You're entirely missing the--"

"Dressed!" 

"I haven't showered. In like a week." Papyrus didn't have the willpower to fight this. That dream really had him stirred up...but if Sans wasn't a commander anymore...then that awful dream wouldn't ever come to fruition...still, the queen was a beast. Horrible and malicious, over seven feet tall and built like a house. And with Sans's oh-so-obvious crush on the political figure, he'd fall right into any snare she had. Worse, if Sans ever did or said anything to earn her ire, she'd probably rip him apart joint by joint until he dusted...

' _Jesus fuck, Papyrus. Way to be morbid.*'_

__

__

"Well, if you'd gotten up the first time I tried waking up, you'd have an extra thirty minutes."

"Doesn't take me thirty minutes to--"

"It takes you enough time to sing the entire first act of Phantom of the Opera." Papyrus flushed at the mention, "Don't lie! Go get dressed!"

If Papyrus had eyes to roll, he would. Instead he bowed.

"Of course, _my leige."_

__

__

"PAPYRUS!"

Papyrus winked.

"Yes, _dutchess?"_

__

__

"DRESSED. NOW." Sans pointed towards the stairs.

"Sure thing, _m'lord_." Sans's face was flushed with his aggravation in the assortment of nicknames. Papyrus took two steps before he paused.

__

__

"Dude, I'll be getting to work like two hours early at this rate."

"I need to make sure you actually go to work before I leave, so toughest of luck!"

" _Fine, Baron von Shortstack,_ " Papyrus mumbled under his breath.

**Author's Note:**

> Sans is the one who actually has the soundtrack to Phantom of the Opera. Papyrus actually has no idea what humans look like, which is why it shocks him to see Chara, who he automatically recognizes as a human and gets this intense feel of deja vu. Papyrus doesn't actually remember the resets, just snippets of pivotal events.
> 
> Sorry about the end, I was so sleepy.


End file.
